


im staring you in the face, hoping you dont see me standing here

by deuynndrabbles (kyoukaalldey)



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Episode: s02e08-09 The Ultimate Enemy, Explicit Language, Gen, aka what i thought was happening in the story, dual obsession au, just a little but thought it was worth tagging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23955316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyoukaalldey/pseuds/deuynndrabbles
Summary: So she dons her Red Huntress gear and flies off into the night. Amity Park is calm at night, she notes. During the day, the streets are full and bustling; filled with life. Now, though, all she sees are gentle shades of blue and purple, with the occasional yellow light of one not yet asleep.She inhales harshly and settles down on the roof of Casper High; resting her board on the balcony like in her dream from a few days ago. This time, however, there is no paneling to check nor high-tech cars floating in the sky. Valerie sighs and wraps her arms around her legs tight, curled into a ball. The Red Huntress may be strong and fierce, but Valerie Gray is not.Even though she’s in her Red Huntress gear, it’s Valerie sitting on the roof that night.(aka that fic where Valerie realizes Phantom ain’t so bad after all after she dreams he’s the end of the world.)
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Valerie Gray
Comments: 11
Kudos: 118





	im staring you in the face, hoping you dont see me standing here

**Author's Note:**

> this whole fic stemmed from the fact that when i first watched the ultimate enemy, i thought valerie was dreaming. and suddenly i got almost 3k on my hands (some was dropped) and a little of space obsession au
> 
> thanks for reading! hope ya enjoy

_ Amity Park is the only city left standing. _

_ Surrounded by the most high-tech ghost shield one could get; the tall skyscrapers and flying cars were a heavy juxtaposition to the barren outlands of destruction just outside. _

_ Valerie Gray is flying through the air on her all too well known board, shifting in the air at every sharp turn she took. When she reaches the tower, she rests it against the balcony; opening the panelling and then tapping her watch. _

_ “Ghost shield tower nine, one hundred percent operational.” _

_ “Great job, sweetie,” the man on the screen says, a gentle smile tugging on his lips as he speaks proudly. “Check the last tower and get back-” _

_ The screen dissolves into static, leaving Valerie to gape at her screen. This has happened before, like the screen shifting out of signal for a couple seconds at most. She sees the screen tune in again, and she lets out a sigh of relief, but instead of her father, two scarlet eyes gaze up at her. _

_ Valerie grits her teeth. “You again? I don’t care how powerful you are, ghost, you can’t break through the damn shield!” _

_ “Until today.” A vicious roar punctuate the ominous words. _

_ And as the buildings around her shake, it left the woman to freeze and cover her ears. Valerie could only watch as windows broke, civilians collapse from the horrible sound, and then the buildings swiftly fall to the ground. _

_ She turns as the paneling in the ghost shield she’s reviewing starts beeping rapidly, the vitals dropping down and then leaving the machines to explode. She loses her footing as it did so, falling down to the ground many feet below. Valerie is still surprised so she has no way to steady herself for the landing.  _

_ Thankfully, her board soars towards her and catches her fall; leaving her head to whip roughly against the change in force. She groans in pain, and turns her board around to watch all the other ghost shields explode in unison. _

_ The blue sheen surrounding the sky fades; leaving a harsh grey sky filled with ash, dust and smoke from the destruction. Alarms blare as emergency camps appear from the ground and civilians run into them. _

_ “Like my new power?” The red eyes shift upwards into a mock imprint of accomplishment. But Valerie knows it’s fake. “I call it my ‘Ghostly Wail’.” _

_ Her glare disappears off her face when a purple blast comes from the sky, rendering the woman unconscious for a few seconds. This time she falls all the way to the concrete, landing roughly by the second building of the Nasty Burger. Valerie opens her eyes against the protest of her brain; bruises and scratches stinging from the dirty air. _

_ “You?” _

_ The Fright Knight sends multiple fiery blasts at the woman, destroying what is left of the restaurant behind her. She whistles and her board sweeps by her again, and the brunette reaches out and collapses onto it; standing on shaky legs as she flies past the barren streets. _

_ “Gotta get to Dad,” she mumbles to herself as she evades the armor-clad ghost hot on her tail. She eventually sees the bright neon glow of Fentonworks; steadying herself for one last burst of speed before she could tumble through the door. _

_ She evades another blast the putrid ghost sends her way, but instead it crashes right into the Ops Center above the building, sending it to break against the hard concrete sidewalk. It’s a given that all the tech in it is broken. Valerie dismisses it (her safety is more important), riding down into the basement of the house to see her father standing in front of a computer with red lights blaring. _

_ “Dad, the Fright Knight’s here. Which means  _ he  _ can’t be too far behind,” she steps forward carefully, as if the floor is covered in acidic ectoplasm. “What do we do?” Valerie turns to glance at the screen, panicked. “What do we-” _

_ The woman is interrupted by a vast rumbling that she could feel in her very soul. Damon Gray turns to her, a solemn expression on his face that doesn’t match his tone. “Valerie, run!” _

_ The floor underneath their feet cracks and erupts; a teal-skinned ghost floating up and says two words that might be welcoming, but mean the complete opposite from his mouth. _

_ “Hello, Valerie.” _

_ Valerie can only stand there, frozen in shock as Danny Phantom develops a radioactive ectoblast in his left hand. _

_ “And goodbye.” _

_ The world around her erupts into green, and Valerie knew no more. _

“Ms. Gray? Valerie Gray!”

Valerie jolts up from her desk, biting her lip. “Um. Yeah, Mr. Lancer?”

“There will be no sleeping in my class. Now, your homework is-”

Valerie sits there and tunes her teacher’s voice out. She rests her fist on her cheek, eyes darting around the room. She eventually sees Danny out of the corner of her eye, mirroring Valerie’s position.

Her mind drifts off to her dream before she had been roughly awoken. The dream was weird, if Valerie thinks about it. Phantom is a menace, she knows this. After all, it had ruined her life.

Phantom is a ghost. Ghosts are evil. These are the two truths Valerie Gray runs by.

Phantom had ruined her life, time and time again. First with that  _ horrible  _ ghost dog that trampled in on Axion Labs, stealing her father’s job and money in one swift jump. Then there was that time it ruined Valerie’s one chance at an A in biology class after wrapping her up in a stupid fight with that robot ghost. And the most scary one- when it destroyed her first suit, viciously blasting it over and over. The brunette can still remember watching it destroy the tech, and wondering what it would be like if she was actually in there.

Overall, Danny Phantom is horrible. And getting more powerful.

She's getting off track, isn’t she?

The point is, that oh-so-vivid dream she had could happen. And she won’t let it. Not now, not ever.

“Ms. Gray, if my class is this boring to you; then you may leave, get a horrible score on the CAT, and be forever doomed to a life at the Nasty Burger.”

Valerie stifles her growl. Does he even know that she is already working there? Clearly not. She inhales to attempt to calm herself, and finally starts listening to her teacher.

Or not. Her eyes drift over to Danny Fenton again, now slumped against his desk asleep. She turns away and glances at the window, lest she giggle. The boy is drooling over the desk, his black hair covering his eyes as a makeshift blindfold.

“No, Danny Phantom. You won’t lay a single fucking ectoplasmic finger on my friends or family.”




Valerie comes across Phantom again.

It’s simple. She’s in her suit; gliding around on her board and shooting at tiny ghosts daring to show their face around Amity Park. She doesn’t pay attention long enough to spot the species or any other noteworthy characteristics; but she prefers it this way. Short fights are much better than long, drawn-out fights meant to be flashy. The Red Huntress isn’t flashy, she means business.

Valerie smirks as she caps the thermos on her umpteenth caught ghost that day, about to drift to the ground and dismiss her suit when she sees him.

Phantom is fighting a hamster ghost. Y’know, if hamsters were the size of a dog, has wide sharp buck teeth, and were the shade of a radioactive green. Valerie huffs silently as she whips out a new gun and trains the crosshair on the teena- (no, it’s a ghost, she shouldn’t be comparing it to humans- even if it's something simple like age. Ghosts are anything but human). She trains the crosshair on the white-haired ghost, sending a blast off.

The blast hit it cleanly on the shoulder, sending viscous ectoplasm down its arm. Valerie inhales and aims again, right into the core. This time, however, Phantom dodges the neon blast. She curses softly under her breath.

“Y’know, ya could always not shoot.” The ghost says the words smartly, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. The brunette furrows her brow at the words; and the ghost just leans back as it sends a finishing ectoblast to the mock-hamster.

“We both know that’ll never happen, ghost scum.”

Phantom shrugs as if it’s a minor inconvenience, grasping its thermos and sucking the incapacitated hamster-ghost into it. “Okay, then. How are we gonna go about this then? You shoot, I dodge, you shoot again, and I get away? That sound good?”

Valerie peers a murky brown eye into the scope yet again, sending another blast its way.

"Giving me the silent treatment, huh?"

"This ain't a game." Valerie says, if only to let herself calm. She knows that if she let herself speak more, she’d get angry; which would make it harder to aim and get another shot in.

“Ah, well.” 

Phantom tilts its head, an almost smile on its face, almost as though it thought this is funny. Valerie dismisses this absurd thought as soon as it appears; ghosts don’t have emotions, and therefore don’t find things funny.

“Suit yourself then. Take another shot, yeah? We both know you’ll miss.”

She grits her teeth painfully. How dare it. “Nah, I think it’ll land just fine.”

Valerie lets another shot off, skimming the ghost’s cheek. It leaves a small cut that has yet to well up with ectoplasm.

“I dunno, that seemed the opposite of ‘land just fine’,” the ghost says as a wisp of frost escapes the ghost’s mouth, and it steadies itself.

“What’cha doing? Finally gonna fight me for real?”

A bright pink snake lunges out of the grass, towards Valerie. It’s too fast for her to react, but the white-haired ghost opposite her does; sending a glowing ectoblast right before the snake could sink its teeth in. She sits there awkwardly, her arms behind her back in an uncomfortable sitting position.

“Well? Is there no thank you?”

Valerie recovers herself. “Like I’d ever thank you.”

She pulls her board back into existence, and soars back home.




Valerie feels down today.

There isn’t really any other way to put it. She just feels shitty.

So she dons her Red Huntress gear and flies off into the night. Amity Park is calm at night, she notes. During the day, the streets are full and bustling; filled with life. Now, though, all she sees are gentle shades of blue and purple, with the occasional yellow light of one not yet asleep.

She inhales harshly and settles down on the roof of Casper High; resting her board on the balcony like in her dream from a few days ago. This time, however, there is no paneling to check nor high-tech cars floating in the sky. Valerie sighs and wraps her arms around her legs tight, curled into a ball. The Red Huntress may be strong and fierce, but Valerie Gray is not.

Even though she’s in her Red Huntress gear, it’s Valerie sitting on the roof that night.

She curls deeper around herself, her fingernails digging into the harsh metal plating on her suit. Valerie starts to feel hot tears streaming down her cheeks (when did she start crying?), and she retracts her helmet to wipe her hand across her face.

“Hey.”

“Go away, shitty ghost. Can’t ya tell I’m not in the mood?”

The expression on Phantom’s face is a heavy contrast to what she thinks of when she thinks ‘Danny Phantom’. It’s odd, seeing such a solemn expression on a ghost that can only be evil.

“Mmm, I figured.” It tilts its head slightly to the side, looking out into the sky. “But when you’re not feeling good, isn’t it a little better to not be alone?”

“Not when that person is your enemy.”

Phantom lets a sad grin creep onto its face. “Yeah, but how many times have I said I don’t think so?”

Valerie scoffs, a harsh sound coming from vocal cords that have been strained by crying.

“I come out here pretty much every night I’m not fighting ghosts.” It reaches a gloved hand out to the starred sky. “The sky is real pretty. It just calms me down in a way other things can’t.”

The wondrous expression on Phantom’s face reminds her of when Danny talks about space. As soon as the thought enters her head she shakes it out; she hates it when her brain compares Danny and Phantom as if they were anything alike. One is a human, one is a ghost.

“Yeah, like what?”

Phantom glances over at her, surprised she’s engaging in conversation. “Well, I dunno. There’s just nothing like the night sky.” It rests its hands back as it is in a position that’s a mix of sitting and laying down. It raises a hand again and points towards a star in the sky. “Y’see that? That’s called Polaris. It’s the brightest star in Ursa Major, and I think it’s pretty cool. What’s crazy is that it’s 433 lightyears away, yet still one of the brightest.”

The luminescent green freckles sprinkled across its face glow as it speaks. Valerie finds it strange that she’s actually listening.

“Oh, and that? That’s my favorite constellation.”

Valerie leans over with cautious eyes towards the ghost. It is clear that this is an Obsession in effect, but she’s never known one that didn’t make the ghosts attack everything in their way.

“How about you? What’s your favorite constellation?”

The question jerks her out of thought. “Uh. . . The Big Dipper, I guess?” It isn’t creative in the slightest, and apparently Phantom thinks so too.

“Can’t ya be a little more creative if you’re gonna make something up on the spot?” It laughs.

No, not it.

He.

He laughs, and it makes Valerie smile.

“Y’know, I always wanted to go to space. But since I died, it’s kinda impossible.” The white-haired ghost admits, quiet enough to be a whisper but still loud enough for the brunette to hear.

It isn’t something she is expecting to hear from him. Valerie blinks once, twice. She isn’t sure what to say to that, but thankfully he continues talking.

“I guess I just fight to protect other people so that they don’t lose what I lost.”

Hmm, maybe she’d misjudged Phantom.

**Author's Note:**

> please stop by my [tumblr](https://deuynndrabbles.tumblr.com) and tell me how bad it was
> 
> also i bullshitted my way through the astronomy so anything i got wrong, well thats on me
> 
> id also like to say ive had this title in mind for sooooo long and im kinda sad im finally using it


End file.
